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Selling the Sizzle Even Though It’s Sushi

NOT TICKLISH Rachael Biggs, above, who is a model, at work at Hadaka Sushi.Credit
Stephanie Diani for The New York Times

West Hollywood, Calif.

HER name was Rachael, she said. She was blond and wore a disarming, gleaming-white smile. Her smile, however, was about the only thing she was wearing, with the exception of a few chrysanthemums affixed to her underwear and banana leaves carefully positioned along the length of her body.

Rachael was a human sushi platter for the evening, the centerpiece of an opening party last month for Hadaka Sushi on the Sunset Strip. Taking gentle breaths, she kept as still as possible so as not to disturb the clusters of oil-infused sushi rolls, sashimi and other pieces of raw fish artfully arranged on the banana leaves in a style known as nyotaimori.

Nyotaimori is a Japanese term that translates as “female body arrangement.” It is also known as body sushi.

Hadaka’s executive chef and owner, Edward Brik, said he designed Hadaka to compete against not just other sushi purveyors in Los Angeles but also the other offerings on Sunset Boulevard. “Sex sells, especially on the Strip,” Mr. Brik said.

Photo

Credit
Stephanie Diani for The New York Times

Nyotaimori is associated, in legend at least, with Japanese organized crime, but solid facts on its origins are extraordinarily difficult to pin down. Several representatives of Japanese cultural societies and Japanese-American trade groups as well as East Asian scholars said they had heard of nyotaimori but knew almost nothing specific about it.

William Marotti, who teaches modern Japanese history at U.C.L.A., speculated that its peak in popularity might have been during Japan’s bubble economy in the late 1980s, “when the Japanese were trying to find new ways to spend all of their money.”

While Hadaka may be the first Los Angeles restaurant to offer nyotaimori, it is not the first in the country. A “gentlemen’s club” in Midtown Manhattan plans to introduce nyotaimori this month, but establishments in other cities have ended the practice because of protests or waning interest. Bonzai nightclub in Seattle became a target of feminist groups when it started promoting body sushi nights in 2003.

Rachael — her full name is Rachael Biggs, a publicist said — seemed to enjoy the evening as much as anyone could while lying supine and being poked by chopsticks. To an onlooker, the most disturbing aspect of her job might be Hadaka’s rule that forbids a model to eat the sushi that rests inches away from her mouth.

So far, Hadaka Sushi has had just two takers for its nyotaimori presentation. (The cost is $1,100 for the model; the food is extra.) A restaurant spokeswoman said several servers were eager to be assigned work as sushi platters. Customers have also requested male models, and the restaurant is trying to oblige.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page F2 of the New York edition with the headline: Selling the Sizzle Even Though It’s Sushi. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe